This is a pretty big moment for Windows Phone and Microsoft, as the first over-the-air (OTA) update is currently being delivered to the international Windows Phone 8X by HTC. Previously, updates to Windows Phone have required the device to be tethered to Zune software on a computer, but one of the new features of Windows Phone 8 allows untethered and far easier OTA updates on the device itself.

For the 8X, the OTA brings the software from build 9905 to 10211, bringing a feature that allows Wi-Fi to always stay connected ("keep Wi-Fi alive") as well as bug fixes for spontaneously rebooting devices. Our HTC 8X is an unbranded and unlocked international model, so we're not sure if this update is also pushing to devices on carriers such as AT&T or Verizon, but we assume if not that it'll be coming soon.

The update itself is carried out in several steps: the device downloads and prepares the update for installation, before rebooting into an update mode, followed by a data migration stage once the OS had been updated and reloaded.

It's pretty cool to see Windows Phone finally updated in this fashion, although at this stage it looks like the HTC 8X is the only device that has taken advantage of the process; our international and unbranded Nokia Lumia 920 has no pending updates at this stage. If you have an international HTC 8X, head to Settings > Phone Update to get the update process started.